


one punch, one kiss

by irishcookie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship, vague reference to antisemitism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 15:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9826706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishcookie/pseuds/irishcookie
Summary: Darcy Lewis throws a punch and that's it, he's confessing everything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt suggested to me by the lovely glynnisi at shieldshockfanfic. I really appreciate her suggesting it! I had fun writing it so I hope you all enjoy it.

Steve misses how the conversation begins.

He is wrapped up with an elderly woman who wants to express her gratitude to him for everything he does. He suspects she also wants to get her fingers on his behind and has been expertly dodging such a move with a smile on his face for at least three minutes. Therefore his attention is focused on something other than Darcy. 

He doesn’t, however, miss how the conversation ends. 

Her voice carries, making the few feet between them virtually disappear. He can hear the anger in it (he has heard annoyance before, this is different — this is serious). He swivels his head just in time to see Darcy’s balled up fist cock back. Before he can even blink she swings and catches the jaw of the man standing in front of her. Her target stumbles but remains upright. 

Steve springs into action. 

Before the stunned recipient can fully react, Steve has slid his body between he and Darcy. Every muscle is tense and he is ready to react if necessary. Behind him he can hear Darcy cursing. Given her mood, he knows better than to correct her language (she might throw a punch at him next). 

The man finally straightens himself back up and Steve can see the blood pooling at the corner of lips. He takes one look at Steve standing tall and then shakes his head. Steve is pretty sure the things he mutters under his breath as he slinks away are none too kind. 

_Good riddance_. 

He turns to find Darcy with a black storm cloud clearly still looming over her head. She is shaking her hand and a myriad of swear words are still falling from her lips. “What an asshole,” she finally declares. “I swear…since November some people are under the impression that they can say any hateful thing they want without consequence…” 

Steve freezes, his eyes shifting towards the retreating figure and then back to Darcy. “What did he say?” 

Darcy must hear something in his voice because she finally seems to realize he is there. “Uh…” Her cheeks flush and Steve knows that wasn’t a smart question. She’ll just get wound up again. “…he had something to say about me being Jewish.” 

Now Steve wishes that he hadn’t let the coward walk away. He wishes he had given into his initial plan and thrown the idiot in the nearby dumpster. He turns on his heels and gets two steps in before Darcy’s fingers curl around his wrist. He stops (even though they both know he could have kept going, dragging her along behind him). 

“As much as I want to see you twist him into a pretzel…” Darcy begins before letting out a huge sigh. “…it’s probably a better idea to head back. Be the bigger man and all that.” 

Steve nods his head and she lets go of his arm. “Not exactly the best way to end pizza night.” 

“We’ll do better next week,” Darcy tells him. They walk in silence for a few moments. “Besides, I _punched_ a guy.” 

Steve can’t help but smile. “Yeah, yeah you did.” He is glad he got to see it (better to have a front seat than to have to listen to the story later on). He wonders if there is something wrong with getting a thrill out of seeing her decimate someone who tried to do the same to her. In the end, he decides he is entirely justified in his reaction. 

The guy is just lucky Darcy got to him first. 

They get a few blocks before Steve realizes it: she is still holding her hand close. Her fingers remain as they were when she had first thrown the punch. His mouth sets in a thin line. “How bad does it hurt?” 

She is in the middle of expressing her love for pepperoni when he speaks and therefore is caught off guard. She makes a face and nearly missteps before she glances down at her hand. “Oh! Not so bad…” 

“ _Darcy_.” 

“That’s your Captain America voice.” 

Steve gives her a pointed look in return. 

She knows when she is defeated. “It hurts like a son of a bitch.” 

“Language,” Steve cautions, unable to stop himself this time. 

“Really, Cap?” She asks. 

They are stopped in front of a bodega. When he reaches for her hand, she instinctively curls it into her stomach, protecting herself from any further pain. That tells him more than enough. Still, he wants to see the damage for himself. “I’ll be careful, Darcy,” he says softly in an attempt to coax her into letting him get a look. 

She hesitates only for a second and then extends her hand towards him. In the dim light he can see the beginnings of a bruise. He is careful when he places his hand under hers so it can rest there. “Can you open your fist?” 

When she does, she bites down on her lip to keep from making too much noise. Her fingers slowly spread out on his palm. He nearly breathes a sigh a relief. At least nothing appears broken. Still, he doesn’t like the look of it. “We need to get some ice on it. Wrap it properly.” He waits until she has pulled it back to its position of relative safety before he lets his hand fall away. “Come on.” 

From their current location, it is a quick walk to his apartment. Darcy is quiet and he hates that. He is used to her vibrant in your face style. He chides himself for not noticing earlier. She probably would have let him walk her home without confessing her injury (and that makes him angry if he is being honest). He unlocks his door. “Why don’t you have a seat on the couch? I’ll grab some ice.” 

He tries to be quick about it, getting an ice pack from the kitchen and a bandage from the bathroom. When he comes back, she is engaged in some sort of dance to pull her coat off with one good arm. He sets his supplies on a side table and pulls her free from the garment. She gives him a grateful look and then plunks down on the couch. 

He sits down on the coffee table across from her. “You should have told me.” Darcy extends her hand again, hissing as he takes it in his own. He tries his best to be careful but he also wants to be thorough. He isn’t above taking her to Stark Towers for medical treatment, even at this hour. He pokes and prods, feeling a measure of guilt every time she squeaks. “You really should have told me.” 

“Is this one of those patent Captain America lectures?” She asks. “Natasha warned me about them.” 

“She also tell you nothing can deter one of them?” 

“She did,” Darcy answers and there is a bit of humor in her voice. “I told her I could probably think of something.” 

Steve’s head shoots up and he sees the look on her face. _Mischievous_ — along the same vein as the time she managed to steal Tony’s welding torch right out from underneath his nose. “Hmm, I am sure you could,” he says as he runs a finger over a swollen knuckle. She winces. “Sorry. On the plus side, I am sure nothing’s broken.” 

“Good,” Darcy says with a nod of her head. “Because it would be pretty lame if I punched a guy for a good reason and broke my hand in the process.” 

Steve holds on to the hand a moment longer than he needs to. Then he is getting down to business, instructing her to hold the ice pack over her bruised knuckles. He fiddles with the bandage, wrapping and re-wrapping a few times until he gets it just the way he wants it. To her credit, she sits there while he fusses. Finally, he is happy (well as happy as he can be knowing she is in pain) with the end results and settles back on the coffee table. “Probably will have to ice it again in the morning. Re-wrap it too. I can come by…” 

“I am sure I can manage,” Darcy tells him. 

“Still, I can come by,” he reiterates. “If it’s still really bothering you this time tomorrow I’d get medical to check it out.” 

“All this for some bruised knuckles,” Darcy muses with a laugh. She flings herself back against his couch, sending her curl flying. 

“Could have been worse,” Steve reminds her. He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “I wish you would have told me.” He realizes this is the third time he has pointed that out. 

Darcy lifts her head off the back of the couch. “Why?” She asks. “Because I need you to fight my battles for me?” 

Her tone is defensive enough for Steve to tread lightly. “No,” he states with a firm shake of his head. “I know you don’t need me to fight your battles…” He has seen her get in Nick Fury’s face on enough occasions to know she can handle herself. “I just…I want to.” 

She raises a brow. “Hero complex.” 

He is probably partially guilty of that but he needs her to understand that in this case there is more to it. “I care, Darcy.” He wonders how much he should say and how much trouble he’ll be in after its all said in done. Already she is looking at him like he has two heads. He figures he just better go for broke and hope for the best. “It’s kind of hard not to. Not that I tried by the way. You’re just…full of life; you wear your heart on your sleeve and own who you are.” She is a bit of an open book but he likes that about her. He likes that she doesn’t shy away from any part of who she is. “I’ve never meet anyone quite like you and I’ve met _a lot_ of people…” 

“That’s because you’re nearly one hundred years old,” she points out. He thinks she is trying to make a joke but instead of sounding humorous her words are quiet. 

“I am. To be fair, I sort of slept through a few birthdays but still, never met anyone like you,” he tells her. “So, I am not going to apologize for wanting to step in when someone gets in your face. Even if I know you can handle it. I know you’d do the same thing for someone you cared about.” 

She is quiet for a moment and then nods. “I would,” she confirms. “I would do it for you.” 

Steve nearly breathes a sigh of relief. He has been honest with her and she hasn’t made a beeline for the door. 

Darcy sits up again, her good hand coming to rest on his knee. She squints. “So, just to be clear…” she begins. “You like me?” 

Steve can’t help but laugh. “I do.” 

Darcy breaks out in a grin. “Good. That will make this less awkward.” She surges forward and her mouth is on his before he has time to react. There is that brief moment of trying to figure out something for the first time but then he’s got his arms around her so he can kiss her properly. 

A few days later, Steve is going over mission details with Sam when he catches the tail end of a story about how Darcy Lewis ‘punched a Nazi and then kissed Captain America’. 

Sam gives him a look and Steve just smiles. 

That is exactly how it went down.


End file.
